DRIIIIIN!
The bell finally marked the end of the school day at Miskatonic.
Within seconds, almost everyone poured out of the classroom.
It was obvious that most of them couldn’t care less about organizing the Winter Interschool Festival and were eager to leave.
No one even bothered to put the desks and chairs back in place after they had been moved to the sides to make room for the circle of chairs in the middle of the classroom.
No one except Emily.
Once the room had emptied out, leaving all that chaos behind, she let out a long huff.
She knew she couldn’t just leave everything like that.
The teachers would chew her out the next day.
Worse, they might stop letting her use a classroom as a meeting spot.
For some reason, Emily seemed to have genuinely taken the festival preparations seriously.
"Ugh... getting anything decent done with a bunch of slackers like this is going to be a nightmare..." Emily grumbled.
Meanwhile, she was dragging the first of twenty-three desks back to where it belonged.
After that, she still had just as many chairs to deal with.
"I-It doesn’t matter... Hnng ! Even if I have to do everything myself... t-these are going to be the best food stalls any Winter Interschool Festival has ever seen! Hnng ! Damn, these things are really heav—"
"If you keep wasting your breath complaining, you’ll only make twice as much work for yourself."
Lars’s impassive voice came from the doorway just as Emily gave the desk another tug.
She froze in surprise. Of all people, Lars was the last person she had expected to see there.
...He really came back to help me?
So maybe he’s not as much of an asshole as he seems.
Could it be... he likes me?
A faint blush rose to her cheeks as a smile spread across her face.
Then she went back to putting the classroom back in order with renewed energy.
"The bell already rang. You shouldn’t still be here," Lars added.
He was leaning against the doorframe with one elbow, watching Emily struggle without lifting a finger to help.
"I know, but... Hnng ! I can’t exactly leave the classroom in this sorry state...
Hnng... i-it almost looks like the meteorite landed in here too..."
"Yeah, it’s a real mess. You must care a lot about this event to be putting in this much effort."
"M-More than you can imagine... Hnng !"
Lars watched her in silence for a few more moments before speaking again.
"Does Camila care that much about it too?"
"Y-Yeees... aaaaah!"
With one final effort, Emily finally shoved the first desk back into place, then immediately collapsed face-first onto it.
She was already almost out of breath, and she had barely even started.
"...After all, Camila became something of a hero at this school thanks to the Winter Interschool Festival. That’s part of why she’s so popular."
"Tell me more."
Emily lifted her head and stared at him in confusion.
"She’s your sister, and you don’t know she’s the star of Miskatonic’s volleyball team?"
"If I’m asking you, then obviously I don’t."
The coldness of his reply instantly wiped away what little familiarity Emily had started to feel around him.
"R-Right..."
Emily hesitated for a moment, then continued.
"...Camila has practically carried Miskatonic to victory all by herself in the last few editions of the Winter Interschool Festival. By now, there are even teams that would rather forfeit outright when they find themselves up against her than waste energy on a match they already consider lost. She’s become a true legend of the festival!"
Lars gave a slight shake of his head and let out a long, weary sigh.
...Is Camila really using her vampiric physical abilities to crush humans at their own games?
Looks like she hasn’t matured mentally over the past hundred years either...
"I see. Thanks for the information. Carry on."
"You’re welcome, no proble— huh?"
Emily blinked several times.
She had looked away for just a moment, and when she turned back toward the door, Lars was already gone.
Deep down, she had been hoping he had come back just to help her.
Clearly, though, the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind.
I was wrong... that guy really is an asshole!